I'm sure everyone has heard of this issue over and over again. I myself have been attempting to fix it for well over a year. I've changed routers 2 times in that period (moved to a new place and swapped out routers to replace a crappy old WRT54G). The issue is simply that even on a 22mb down / 2mb upload any speed-test will net me around a 2mb down (upload lower), even if testing via the browser in the PlayStation 3. Interestingly enough, some user claim their older 40gb model is unaffected by this problem, whereas the newer 80gb and 120gb versions are those afflicted with the networking curse.

Here are the supposed fixes for this issue:

1.) Change your router to Wireless G only mode instead of mixed B/G. (Issue - People use Wireless N for the most part and this option isn't available. Also found it to not fix a damn thing.)

2.) Port forward the appropriate ports on your router or other networking devices, or alternatively set a DMZ for your PS3 and most likely set a static IP for it to to retain the DMZ. (This advice has proven to do Jack squat.)

3.) Plug your device in wired. (Not an option for everyone and very inconvenient.)

4.) Adjust the MTU to something below 1500. (This seems stupid at first glance, but may it be possible that the older Wireless NIC in the PS3 does not properly account for more modern wireless security standards that use a larger overhead in the packet size? I've seen some older NICs refuse to connect to routers with say WPA enabled or perform like crap on them.)

5.) Some users claimed to have alleviated the performance issue by simple leaving their WIFI wide open with no authentication. (Do I even need to mention how stupid it would be to consider this a fix? It does lend credence to the main issue being the wireless NICs authentication or handshake with certain security protocols).

I'm curious to see others findings on this issue and if anyone has found a reasonable "Fix". I'm almost surprised that Sony has not been sued in the form of a class action lawsuit over this very obvious networking defect. If nothing else they should want to make it right as its prevented me and I'm sure 100's of thousands of would be customers from purchasing movies and games off of their PlayStation Network. Especially with their new "Stream" function added to rentals, I've found that its literally luck of the draw on whether I can get past the "Your connection is too crappy to stream this". Obviously even that 2bmps is because finally when it allows it to, it will stream alright as long as we don't attempt to rewind or jump forward, which will cause it to crash and go back to the main PlayStation home screen.

I'm just so disappointed in Sony's lack of explanation or to even acknowledge an issue (as far as I know.)

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

The xbox has its issues like its terrible practice to require you to buy a xbox live gold just to use another pay service that isn't theirs (netflix). Plus no stock blu-ray player, no thanks. I guess its a pick your poison moment.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

Ya, I wish I could just run a line to the PS3, but it would literally trail from one end of the house to the other. When I was in my old apartment about 3 years ago, and my land lords had the internet on their side (free faster internet, why complain ). I used to use a Linksys WET54G to wirelessly bridge to a switch and then wired the PS3. It worked much better except for the flaky wireless bridge through 4 walls and if we used the microwave (directly between the two wireless devices).

So..... I mentioned this PS3 issue to a friend and he confirmed what I think is the issue. He said he has 2 PS3s and the issue is with WPA or any other form of security OTHER than WEP. So it stands to reason that they went cheap on the wireless cards. When the PS3 was first release, I know it was an odd point for some wireless cards where they didn't yet support WPA or WPA2 anyhow.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

I also had this problem and have tried most of the solutions you listed with little benefit. I think the power line solution that Fox listed is a pretty good idea since a wired connection seems about the only way real way to fix this problem.

/sigh, well I solved my issue with what should be considered an unnecessary solution. I hooked up my old Linksys WET54G wireless bridge and have it hooked directly into wired. I got 18mbps down / 1.7mbps up after doing so. Problem solved (I guess). It just blows my mind considering the PS3 claims to support WPA and WPA2..... Yet it does not really fully or correctly. Before when connected (with 100% signal) to an Asus RT-N16 router at 2.4ghz, I was only getting 786k down and under 74k upload. Well below acceptable for a connection that is 22 down and 2 up.

I'm really curious why there is not a class action law suit to fix this issue. It makes the PS3 wireless useless to stream over the internet and more so over the LAN as it gets the same anemic speeds.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

I've dealt with this problem for ages. I only used my PS3 for GT5 and because of it's terrible wifi I haven't even bothered to play it in months.

It's particularly frustrating when you have to download updates for games and the download speed is nowhere near what I can get on other devices at the same range. Even at 80% wifi signal the download speeds suck.